About

Disclaimer:

The information provided in this blog is just for educational purpose only. Not to cure or treat any disease. Inclusion of herbs should be done after getting evaluated by an Ayurveda/Siddha practitioner, as every individual’s body is different and to avoid herb-drug interaction.

All home remedies mentioned in this blog can to be used as a first-aid, incase of minor illnesses. It is always good to find the cause of any illness and treat the cause, instead of treating the symptoms. In addition to these remedies, dietary and lifestyle changes should also be done to get full benefits. Pregnant and Lactating moms should consult their practitioner before taking any remedies.

Greetings!

Thanks for visiting my blog. My name is Pavithra, a former Software Engineer turned Ayurvedic Marma Therapist and an Integral Vedic Counselor. Seventeen years ago, my dream was to become a software architect. Without any idea or future plans, I landed on the Ayurvedic platform ten years ago which changed my dream completely. I felt that learning our body’s architecture is more important than the software architecture 😉 I started to study Ayurveda and got trained in “Pulse Assessment and Transdermal Marma Therapy” by world-renowned Ayurvedic Practitioner Vaidya R.K. Mishra and earned the title “Prāna Vidushi”. I have studied extensively on Cellulite, Heart Diseases and Yoga shastra by taking respective courses from reputed teachers. I have also completed “Integral Vedic Counseling” from the American Institute of Vedic Studies, which is about how the Vedic Sciences of Yoga, Vedanta, Ayurveda, Jyotish and Vastu fit together into an integral model of optimal well-being and Self-realization. I am currently studying “Ayurvedic Astrology” from the American Institute of Vedic Studies, “Medical Neuroscience” offered by Duke University (North Carolina) and “Healing with the new Biology” from Dr. Tom Cowan of New Biology Clinic. I am also studying the fundamentals of healthcare law and also doing a self-study on Inflammatory disorders, neurological diseases and Adverse Drug Reactions. I thank all my teachers from whom I got to learn the great Ayurvedic Science. Ever since I started my Ayurvedic studies, my family is living an Ayurvedic lifestyle as much as possible and my life has changed a lot, for good. After experiencing its goodness, my mission now, is to spread Ayurvedic wisdom to everyone.

My mission is to create awareness among people on how to keep ourselves healthy and to prevent diet/ lifestyle related diseases like Diabetes, Heart disease, Cancer etc. Ayurveda is a precious ancient science which has preserved a complete system of mind-body healing. It is our responsibility to protect and share this knowledge. Ayurvedic science is a treasure that has to be passed on to our next generation. My intention is to help people treat themselves, with simple Ayurvedic herbal remedies and lifestyle changes, without reaching for medications all the time.

Visit my SvasthyaGyan blog for herb profile, home remedies, diseases and much more.

What is Ayurveda?

Ayurveda is not yet another medicinal system. It is not just about herbal medicine and diet. Ayurveda is the “Science of life”. Ayurveda focuses on physical, mental, emotional and spiritual health. Following Ayurvedic lifestyle means following proper diet, yoga, pranayama, spiritual practices and being compassionate. Just by taking good food or by doing yoga one cannot attain good mind-body health. Everything in a proper proportion should be added to our routine.

Ayurveda teaches us to treat food as the first medicine. Every herb, spice, veggie, fruit etc has some medicinal properties as well as some ill-effects. We are responsible to know both good and bad effects about each ingredient in the food we eat. We should also know the after-effect of the food we eat to take care of our health in a better way. Instead of concentrating on the taste of the food (of-course taste is important!), we should concentrate more on how healthy it can be made. We should choose the food which will suit our body type, the environment we live, our age, season and current body condition. If cooked properly and taken in moderation, food will bring bliss to our mind and body.  We should incorporate all 6 tastes in our food. Don’t overdo anything. Moderation is the key.

Why Ayurvedic cooking is so special?

My blog not only provides health tips, herb profile and herbal remedies but also tasty vegetarian recipes cooked following Ayurvedic principles. Recipes posted here will not have onion/ garlic, soy, mushroom and nightshades (Potato,Tomato, Bell pepper, Eggplant) as most of the Ayurvedic doctors don’t recommend these veggies to keep our doshas balanced. Sweet Potatoes, Taro root, Nagaimo are not nightshades even though their texture is similar to potatoes. I avoid onion/garlic in my cooking due to its Pitta-aggravating property and to avoid its rajasic/tamasic guna. I definitely agree that Garlic has lot of medicinal properties but that does not mean it is the only medicine to treat cold or cholesterol or any illness. Unfortunately, Garlic is mostly used for its flavor than for its medicinal values. There are good substitutes like tulsi(holy basil – best Saatvic herb), Ginger, Black-pepper, Kantakari, Thoothuvalai, Siththarathai, etc which does even better job in handling cold or any ailment without depleting our friendly gut bacteria. Thankfully, ayurveda teaches us how to prevent any ailment through good food.

I don’t cook any recipe containing yeast either.  Yeast is heating to the body and also disturbs digestive process. It also aggravates all doshas. Also, all my cooking will be on stove-top, which means, no microwave or pressure cooker usage. There are lot of articles to explain why nightshades, microwave cooking, pressure cooker are bad for health. Also certain food combinations are not recommended by Ayurveda. Just putting all healthy ingredients in one recipe will not do good all the time. Proper food combination is REALLY important.

Come on, will the food taste good without these yummy ingredients?

Initially, even I was very skeptical about the taste of the food, especially without tomatoes. Trust me… There are better alternatives to cook tasty yet healthy meal. You will surely love the taste of ayurvedic food. Please don’t get scared to try these recipes since for many people Ayurvedic cooking might sound strange. I am sure these recipes will be far healthier and tastier than the canned or restaurant food or food with tons of preservatives.

Kitchen is the best place to start an Ayurvedic lifestyle. Cooking without onion/garlic is not a big deal but cooking without nightshades, especially tomatoes, in Indian cooking will be a big deal, at first. For past 6+ years, I have been trying out a lot of ayurvedic recipes and mostly(not all 😉 )  turn out tasty. I am sharing only those tasty recipes with you 🙂 I am sure lot of readers will be benefited by this. Also, you’ll get a chance to try out new veggies, fruits, grains, lentils and spices through these recipes.

Recipes in this blog will surely make you tell “Ayurvedic cooking is fun!” 🙂

Caution 😉

Please don’t compare the taste of Ayurvedic recipes with the usual recipes. As stated above, I don’t use onion, garlic and those 4 nightshades. Hence, there will be a lot of difference in the taste. Also ayurvedic cooking doesn’t recommend overpowering of spices.   For eg: if I say “Ayurvedic Biriyani“, it will no way taste similar to the usual biriyani. But the food will definitely taste good in a different way. When we keep our health as our first priority, we have to sacrifice our taste expectations to some extent. For that, you dont have to eat bland food. Ayurvedic cooking will have all 6 tastes in required amount to keep our body and mind healthy.

Get ready to feed healthy food to your mind and body 🙂

What Changes have you made in your pantry?

I use organic rice, lentils, veggies, fruits, spices, ghee(ghee made from cultured butter[Traditonal way of making ghee]) and other edibles (everything organic) depending upon availability. I buy organic non-homogenized grass-fed cow’s milk. I grind my own masala powders. No canned/frozen food or food with preservatives. I don’t eat leftovers. Instead I try to make limited quantity of food so that nothing will be left. For spiciness I use ginger, black/white/pink pepper, occasionally thai green chillies as these are much better than red chillies. I use Himalayan Pink salt. I don’t use nonstick or Aluminium cookware. I try to follow Ayurvedic rules as much as possible. Most important, I use food as medicine in case of any illness.

All recipes posted in this blog have been tried by me and liked by my family. Lot of effort has been put to come up with a recipe which follows ayurvedic rules and tastes good. So, no copying please 🙂 But, do try the recipes and I would love to get your feedback.

Ayurveda recommends food that suits your body type and there is no general rule for everyone. I will be posting tridoshic recipes mostly. Please read the notes given under each post before trying out the recipe. If you have any concern, please consult an ayurvedic physician to know your body type and what kind of food suits you better.

General Instructions for the recipes posted in this blog:

•  According to Ayurveda, most of the spices are heating to the body. It is recommended to adjust the spice level mentioned in the recipes according to your body type.
• Though the quantity of spice powders are mentioned in some recipes in this blog, you can adjust according to your taste.
• Dry roast the lentils before rinsing to quicken the cooking process and also to remove lectin intolerance to some extend.
• Always remove the froth that forms on top while cooking lentils on stove-top. This will remove some of its gassy properties. It is not possible to do this if you are using pressure cooker.
• Always soak lentils before cooking which will help in better digestion.
• Try to use organic ingredients whenever possible.

Suggested Readings:

• Charaka Samhita – Ancient Ayurvedic Textbook
• Ashtanga Hrudhaya – Ancient Ayurvedic Textbook
• My guru Vaidya Mishra’s Blog and his Cook book “Ayurvedic Recipes for Balance & Bliss”
• Dr.Vasant Lad’s books including  “Textbook of Ayurveda”, “Ayurvedic cooking for Self healing”, “The Complete book of Ayurvedic Home remedies”, “Secrets of the Pulse”.
• “Nalam Tharum Siddha Maruthuvam” by Dr.Selva Shanmugam
• “What doctor’s don’t get to study in medical school” by Dr.B.M.Hegde
• “Mind over Meds: Are you overmedicated?” by Dr.Andrew Weil
• “A Mind of your own” by Dr.Kelly Brogan
• “Rasayana” by H.S.Puri
• Dravyaguna Vijnana -To know the property of each herb
• Swami Sada Shiva Tirtha’s “The Ayurveda Encyclopedia”
• “Nutrition and Physical degeneration” by Dr. Weston A. Price.
• “Alzheimer’s Disease: What if there was a cure” by Dr.Mary T.Newport
• “The Biology of Belief” by Dr.Bruce Lipton
• “Welcome to your child’s brain: How the mind grows from conception to college” by Sandra Aamodt and Sam Wang
• “Radical Remission” by Kelly Turner
• “Human Heart, Cosmic Heart: A Doctor’s Quest to Understand, Treat, and Prevent Cardiovascular Disease” by Dr. Thomas Cowan
• “The Truth About Contagion: Exploring Theories of How Disease Spreads” by Dr. Thomas Cowan and Sally Fallon Morell
• “Cancer and the new biology of water” by Dr. Thomas Cowan
• “The Nourishing traditions book of baby & childcare” by Sally Fallon Morell

• “Healing the Thyroid with Ayurveda: Natural Treatments for Hashimoto’s, Hypothyroidism, and Hyperthyroidism” by Dr. Marianne Teitelbaum

• “Who is your doctor and why?” by Dr. Alonzo J. Shadman
• “Silent spring” by Rachel Carson
• “Diseases of Women” by Dr. John Tilden
• “Appendicitis” by Dr. John Tilden
• “The True Healing Art” by Dr. R. T. Trall
• “The 7 habits of highly effective people” by Stephen R. Covey
• “Children; Their hydropathic management in health and disease” by Dr. Joel Shew
• “Terrain Therapy” by Dr. Ulric Williams
• “How to live longer and stay young for the rest of your life” by Dr. Vernon Coleman
• “Confessions of a Medical Heretic” by Dr. Robert Mendelsohn
• “Never in your wildest dreams” by Natalie Ledwell.
• “The invisible rainbow: A history of electricity and life” by Arthur Firstenberg
• “The wonderful world within you” by Dr. Roger J. Williams
• “You can fix your brain” by Dr. Tom O’ Bryan
• “The power of a positive attitude” by Roger Fritz
• “Get out of your own way: The 5 keys to surpassing everyone’s expectations” by Dr. Robert K. Cooper
• “Alternative Medicine – Definitive Guide to Cancer” by Dr. John Diamond and Dr. Lee Cowden.
• “Digestion and Dyspepsia” by Dr. R. T. Trall.
• “Beyond the mind” by Dr. David Frawley.
• “Paralysis and other affections of the nerves” by Dr. Geo Taylor.
• “The power of your subconscious mind” by Dr. Joseph Murphy

• “Body power” by Dr. Vernon Coleman.

• “The Fourfold Path to Healing” by Dr. Thomas Cowan

• “Diseases of Modern Life” by Dr. Benjamin Richardson.
• “Uterine Diseases and Displacements” by Dr. R. T. Trall
• “The Cholesterol Myths” by Dr. Uffe Ravnoskov
• “The Cholesterol Controversy” by Dr. Edward Pinckney